Electric switch.



Auurrrn') STATES PATENT cierren."V

AMES T. COOPER, OF CASSVILLE, MISSOURI.

l ELECTRIC SWITCH.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Janes T. COOPER, acitizen of the United States of America, re siding at Cassville, in the county of Barry and State of Missouri, have invented new and useful Improvements in Electric Switches,'of

Awhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain improvements in telephone protecting devices of that general class for the grounding of the line during electrical storms in order to prevent injurv to the telephone or other mechanism, or to lessen the liability-'of danger to the building i'n which the 'telephone is situated.

The object ot the invention is to provide a novel device of this character which may be used on party lines where a number of subscribers are connected by a single line wire and in which the return is made by ground to the end that the operation of the device by a particular subscriber will not interfere with the use of the line by other subscribers.

In the accompanying drawings,-Figure 1 is a perspective view of a lightning arrester embodying in v improvements, showing the same in operative position on the cross arm of a pole. F ig. 2 is a detail perspective view showing the hook arm and the conduct-ing wire connected together electrically.

The main line is indicated at 1, the local line which leads to the telephone or other instrument of a particular subscriber, is indicated at 2. Said lines are, respectively attached to insulators 3, 4, which in practice are mounted on a suitable support., here shown as the. cross arm 5 of a pole 6.

ground wire 7 leads from the cross arm to earth, and its upper end is disposed close to, but out of Contact with, t-he mein line.. To the insulator 3 of the main line is attached an electrode S which has an eye 9. A bell crank device '10 is pivotally mounted, as at 11, on the cross arm or other supporting device, and has arms 12, 13, the latter eX- tending upwardly. Such arm 12 is provided at its outer end with a tip 14 which is made of copper or other suitable conducting material, is formed with a tubular socket portion 15 to receive said arm 12 and is provided at its outer end with acondut-,ting hook 1G, the bill of which is adapted when such arm Specification of Letters Patent..

Application iled July 23, 1907. Serial No. 385,195.

Patented Aug; 4, 1908.'

12 is depressed to pass through the eye 9 of vthe electrode and form electrical. contact with such electrode. The said socket )ortlon 15 has a binding post 17, to wlnci 1s attached a conducting;- Wire 18, the opposite end of which is connected to the local wire 2, A'

and the said conducting wire 1S is passed through keepers 19 on the underside of the arm 12 of the bell crank device and has a slack portion 20 which is here shown as coiled to enable the bell crank device to be moved upwardly, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, to disengage the hook 16 from the electrode 8 and hence break connection between the main line and the local line. At the upper end of the arm 13 of the bell crank device is an eye 21 to which is attached an operating cord 22 of non-conducting material, which cord passes through a window or other opening in the house of. the subscriber and enables the. said bell crank device as to disconnect the main line from the local line on the approach of a thunder storm.

Any high )otential current which may find its way to t 1e line, as in an electrical storm, will pass therefrom to the ground wire 7 and be conducted by the latter harmlessly to the ground. Owing to the space between the said ground Wire and the main line currents of ordinary strength will not pass from the main line to the ground Wire.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, isz- 1. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a support, lines conneeted thereto and one having an electrode, a bell'crank device pivotally mounted on said support and having an upwardly extending arm and a longer, normally horizontal arm-'provided with an electrode for connection with the first mentioned electrode by the `gravitating action of said bell crank, and a cord connected to the shorter arm of such bell crank to operate the same.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a support, a bell crank device pivotally mounted on said support and comprising a. long normally horizontal arm and a shorter upwardly extending arm, a conductor on the outer'end of the longer 

